Vietnam veteran Walt Abbott knows how difficult it can be to make the military to civilian transition.
That’s why he joined SCORE more 15 years ago.
“SCORE has been an amazing adventure for me, both from a mentoring standpoint and a learning standpoint,” he said.
SCORE is the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals. It has provided education and mentorship to more than 11 million entrepreneurs since 1964.
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“It is difficult to make the transition from military to civilian life, particularly when you’ve been in the service for a good while,” Abbott said. “One of my goals is to help them to make that transition.”
SCORE recently released its Megaphone of Mainstreet - Unsung Entrepreneurs report, which highlights the unique challenges veterans face when starting a business, and the assets they bring to the table, such as:
- Veterans represent 2.5 million U.S. businesses and employ nearly 6 million Americans
In spite of this, many cite service-related disabilities as barriers to entry entrepreneurship and while many have applied for COVID relief funds, they were denied more often than other business owners.
Veterans make great business owners because of their persistence and “stick with it” attitude, Abbott said.
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“They are team-focused, so when they are growing a business they know how to work with teams, work with employees,” he added.
One of the main things that veterans have to overcome is the belief that their military job skills are not suitable for the civilian world, stressed Abbott.
SCORE is a free program that provides recommendations and assistance with networking to entrepreneurs through the services of 10,000 volunteers across the country
“We have the most fantastic volunteers. They have a myriad of expertise,” Abbott said.
He added that the Washington, D.C. SCORE chapter desperately needs volunteers because more it currently has more clients than people who can mentor.
In conjunction with Facebook, D.C. chapter put on a fast launch business start launch webinar
“It’s kind of the Cliff Notes version of how to start a business,” explained Abbott.
To learn more visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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